Haunting Hour Aftermath
by Myra109
Summary: R.L Stines left a lot of cliffhangers in his episodes of the Haunting Hour. What happened to the victims? What happened to their families? Warnings before chapters includes 4 episodes from season one (chapter 1 says 5, but it's actually 4. Sorry), this is rated T, except for chapter 3. That is the only chapters rated M
1. The Dead Body

_Hello, everyone! This story is basically a collection of one shots that tell the story of what happened after Haunting Hour. I am only doing five episodes out of season one because they're my favorite episodes and I thought they'd make interesting stories._

 _This is Episode 1: The Dead Body_

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

 _ **Warnings: Language. Also, this is based on my beliefs as a Christian, so sorry if that doesn't appeal to you. Thirdly, hints of suicidal thoughts and plans for a suicide attempt**_

 **Summary: this story shows what Travis, Cheng, and Anna do when they discover that Will was 'killed' by a ghost.**

* * *

It was May at Northeast High (made up the school) and the End of the Year Dance was nearing. Travis and Cheng had both recovered from the trauma after a few weeks at a mental institution and several therapy sessions. Anna was now dating Jake Skinner while getting over Will's disappearance back in late March, early April. Jake and Anna had shared their first kiss and were planning to go to the Dance together. Until Anna saw Will standing in the fenced off area of the gym.

Jake almost always lifted weights after school, seeing as he had joined the wrestling team, and Anna normally went to see him. When she reached the gym, she realized that Jake had a meeting with the guidance councilor to talk about him returning to this school next year. Sighing in exasperation, Anna turned to walk home when she heard a voice that she never thought that she'd hear again.

"Anna!"

The young teenager turned to see Will, her missing friend, standing in the fenced off area of the gym, where most equipment was stored. He hadn't changed one bit in the past two months, same clothes, same hair, same everything; it was as if a day hadn't passed since his disappearance.

"Will?" Anna gasped. "But-"

"I know this is weird, but I'll explain everything. Just let me out of here!"

She did so, yet when she tried to hug him, she found her arms going straight through the boy and coming back to her chest, freezing cold.

"What-"

"Don't worry, Anna, I can explain." And he did. Will told her everything from meeting Jake and making their deal to him time traveling and getting locked in here in the 1960's. He even told her that he'd tried to get her attention at the school dance, but she couldn't see him then and he wasn't sure why she could see him now.

"Well, that doesn't matter; we need to figure out how to change you back."

"Why do you want to change me back? I'm sure that you love Jake a lot more than you loved me," Will mumbled, depressed.

Anna was surprised. "Look, Will, I thought I loved Jake, but I think that was only because he was there when you couldn't be. When you couldn't be there to kiss me, Jake was."

"So, you replaced me."

"No! I mean that I was heart broken when you didn't show up at the dance and then I nearly shattered when you were pronouned missing. Jake was just convinently there to lessen the pain, but that doesn't mean I love him like I love you, Will. I love him like a brother, yet he loves me like a girlfriend and I didn't have the heart to tell him that the feeling wasn't mutual. Besides, my mom told me something once, Will. After my daddy died, I asked why God wouldn't give him back and she said, 'Anna... if a person dies, they're meant to be dead. God takes them in because he knows that that's what he has to do.' Will, he tried to take Jake, but Jake didn't want to die, so Jake took you. The reason you didn't wake up in Heaven is because God isn't ready for you yet."

"You're mom sounds real wise, Anna," Will whispered.

"Yeah, she is. Now, how are we going to change things?"

"Well, I think I know how, but we'll need help," Will told her with a grin. "And Travis and Cheng are perfect for the job."

A few days later, everything was ready. Will stood in the fenced off area of the gym, waiting for Jake to come through the door as he stared at the picture of John F. Kennedy on the wall, making the year 1961. Will discovered that he could transport himself and others to this year, and that was how they were going to change him back.

"Hey, guys, what the hell is wrong with you?" Jake's irritated yell came through the doorway.

"We know what you did to Will, Skinner, and what you did to us!" Travis screamed back.

"Look, I'm sorry about what I did to you, but you guys hated Will, so shouldn't you be happy?"

"No," Travis disagreed. "We teased Will, but only because we were jealous. He was smart and not bad looking; he got a pretty girl and a few friends, which I guess made sense. He was the nicest kid in school. But we never wanted him dead!"

"Well, guess what? Even if I hadn't traded places with him, he would have wound up dead anyway."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Will was making plans to kill himself before he met me and asked Anna out on a date."

Silence.

"Shut up, Skinner." Next thing Will knew, Jake was shoved into the gym/weight room and stared into Will's blue eyes with pure black orbs.

Travis pushed the teen into the fenced off area, which was now bathed in flames, and Will dove out, landing beside a smiling Travis and Cheng.

Together, the three of them locked Jake in and raced out, ignoring him screaming about revenge and getting them someday.

The trio darted up the steps, and while Travis and Cheng stood at the doorway, Will strolled up to a tearful Anna and asked, "Anna Wheeler, may I have this dance?"

Grinning a shaky smile, she nodded and together they danced the night away, ignoring the shocked looks from the other students when they saw that William Grey had returned to Northeast High.

* * *

* Meanwhile in elsewhere*

"Jake," a tearful woman said as a boy with too much hair grease and a black leather jacket turned to face her. "My baby."

"Mom?"

"Baby, you need to understand that what you did was wrong."

"B-but, Mom," the boy stuttered with a sob. "I was only sixteen. I-I didn't want to die yet."

"I know, baby, but you were ready to. God explained it all when your father and I died. He knew that the boys that bullied you were making you miserable and they payed dearly for it. He took you to put you out of your misery and to make you happy."

"B-but, I wasn't happy!" With that, the mother and son held each other, soon joined by a crying father. They'd been separated too soon, and the boy had gotten off the wrong track after his death, but they were together again and nothing, not even the powers of God, could tear them apart.

* * *

 _AN: I know that some characters were OOC. Also, I think that Travis and Cheng had a reason from bullying kids, Will in particular, and if he disappeared and they found out that the guy that nearly drove them crazy killed him, they'd feel bad for what they did._

 _What'd you think? Review!_


	2. Ghostly Stare

_Hello again! This is Ghostly Stare!_

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

 _ **Warnings: language, mental abuse**_

 **Summary: when Mark discovers that Lauren has fallen into a grave and has been replaced by a ghost, how will he, an eleven year old kid, save her before dawn?**

* * *

Mark yelped as his sister's pale face changed from the beauty of a young girl's to a transparent skeleton. They'd been having a staring contest, and Lauren had lasted about ten seconds before the transformation into... that thing.

"What? Lauren?" He whispered, grabbing a frying pan off the turned off stove. Apparently, whatever had taken Lauren's place had been about to cook dinner, which was convinent for him. "Who are you?"

"You had to stare, didn't you, Marcus?" The thing, changing it's face back to Lauren's, scowled in a woman's voice, too deep to be Lauren's. "I'm Kylie Anne Robert Towns, a ghost."

"W-Well, what have you done with my sister, Kylie?" The frightened preteen demanded, raising the frying pan, preparing to bring it down on the ghost's skull.

"When your sister was looking for you, she fell into my grave, and when a person falls into a grave, the inhabitant of that grave can take their place."

"Well, tell me where your grave is! I want my sister back!"

The ghost laughed hysterically and Mark jurked back in surprise. "How are you- a weak... annoying... pathetic eleven year old going to find a girl lying in a grave? She's in one of a hundred graves!"

"Well, I don't care! I'm going to find Lauren if it's the last thing I do!" With that, Mark stomped over to the coat rack to grab his brown winter coat.

Leaning against the counter and taking a bite of an apple that she'd grabbed from a fruit bowl, the ghost shouted, "You have until sunrise or she stays there forever!" The slam of a door was the only reply.

Minutes later, Mark was strolling through a cemetery with nothing but an ounce of sunlight and the soft beam of his flashlight as he screamed his sister's name. "Lauren! Can you hear me? Please, Lauren, if you can hear me, say something!"

The brown haired boy examined the ground, making sure that he didn't fall into any graves and peering into ones for his older sibling.

"You'll never find her, Mark," a deep female voice said, nearly lost in the wind. Mark spun around, yet saw no one. The boy continued to walk, tripping over weeds and branches and dodging graves.

"You must be the famous Mark," a light, airy voice infered. Turning, the child rose the flashlight into the air, ready to hit any person that came near. "There's no need for that, child." A woman dressed in a nurse's uniform floated about a foot off the ground as she gazed at him with a slightly bitter expression. "I met your sister last night."

"You did? Do you know where she is?" Mark explained, lowering the flashlight as he approached the ghost, desperate for a clue. It had been hours and he could see the sun beginning to peak over the horizon.

"Yes, and I suppose since I owe your sister a favor, I will show you. This way." She led him onward until, finally, they came to a gaping chasm, about six feet deep and three feet wide with a blonde girl, covered in dirt and grime, at the bottom. "You have five minutes to get her out or she stays there forever, boy. Don't fall in yourself, either." With that, the woman vanished.

Kneeling down with his knees digging into the earth, Mark shouted, "Lauren! Wake up!" He repeated the line several times to no avail before reaching for a clump of dirt, which he promptly threw in her face. Sure enough, Lauren bolted up, considering she'd always been a light sleeper, although she never listened to her brother.

"Mark, what the hell?" Lauren cursed before noticing where she was. "What the-"

"No time, Lauren. We have three minutes to get you out of there or you'll be stuck there forever!" Next, Mark lied flat on his stomach and reached down to his sister while gripping the edge to keep balance. The blonde teen stood on her tip toes to grasp the small, pale hand. With her other hand, she gripped a branch sticking out of the dirt wall and used her feet to make holes in the sides of the grave. Lauren placed her sneaker clad feet on the foot holds while tugging herself up with Mark's help.

Finally, they were both out and alive, holding each other close. In the distance, a woman screamed as she was swept away from Earth and into the land of the dead.

Together, two siblings walked home under a blue sky, at peace for the first time in nearly two days.

* * *

 _I'm sorry it's short, but there really wasn't much to write for this one; I just thought it would be fun to write._

 _What'd you think? Review!_


	3. Game Over

_Be warned! This is much darker than the previous chapters!_

 _This is Game Over!_

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing._**

 ** _Warnings: language, mental instability, self harm, depression, hints of PTSD, mentions of rape, mentions of alcoholism and child abuse_**

 **Summary: when Kelly is trapped in the game, Micah, Shawn, and Gooch have to work together to save him. Armed with only their copies of Z town, each other, and a mysterious manual found in the case, they have to get Kelly out of the game before it's too late.**

* * *

When Gooch woke up, the first thing he realized was that his brothers had ransacked his room while he'd been gone. The second thing he realized was that Shawn and Micah were lying on his floor and Kelly was no where to be seen. As his memory came back in short spurts, the black haired teen rolled off of his couch and right onto Shawn, who awoke with a groan.

"Sorry, dude!" Gooch apologized, although his mind was set on finding his red haired friend. With a rush of fear that he'd only felt back in Z town or when his dad showed up drunk when he was younger, Gooch pulled apart his room, opening every door, over turning every piece of furniture.

No! He can't be gone! Gooch thought. Sure, Kelly was kind of a lousy friend but he'd come through for them in the end, hadn't he?

"Gooch!" Micah's yell stopped him in his tracks and he turned to face the Tom boy. "Kelly's gone."

"But, he can't be! We need to do something!" Gooch shouted, hysterically.

"Gooch is right," Shawn broke in. "Kelly saved us, so now we need to save him. If there's a way in, there's gotta be a way out."

"Major Mayhem said something about someone having to beat Kelly before he can get out. We can't just trap someone else in there, and I know that Kelly won't do that. He's kind of a lame person, but he's not cruel," Gooch supplied, slightly calmer now.

"Well, there's gotta be a- what's that?" Shawn cut himself off as he opened the case to Z town and a small paper pamphlet fell to the carpet. Micah picked it up and opened it.

"Z Town," She read, "is a complicated game, in which a person has to fight another gamer to discover which of them is the best. The game was created by a man in the early 1980's. He was narcissistic and a great video game player. He wanted to find out if anyone was better than him, so he used dark magic to create the game, Z Town. The man spent years trapped in the game before a teenage boy entered the game in the early 2000's. The man, nearing his fourties, wanted nothing more than to escape his creation and therefore, didn't try to fight his opponent. According to the man's notes, the only way to escape the games, other than being defeated, is by having players beat the game twice in order to save the one trapped inside. If a person, or persons, battles the game twice in order to save a friend, the prisoner will be released, along with all players."

"So in order to save Kelly," Gooch spoke slowly, "we have to beat the game again! But how do we do that?"

"Well," Micah explained, "We know the game better now. We know level one, you and Shawn know level two, and you know level three. We can beat this!"

With that, the three played the game with a mixture of determination and fear. When they awoke, they stood in Gooch's room inside of the game. Together, the trio grabbed things from the house that could be used as weapons. A baseball bat, nerf guns, kitchen knives, etc. and took out any zombies they saw. Now, the three were back and better then ever as they returned zombies to their graves while racing through the streets. They passed the three levels with flying colors and finally, the teenagers broke into the building during the final level, only to hear crying.

There was Kelly, sobbing as he screamed at the sky. "I'm sorry! I was a horrible friend, and an even worse person, but I'll change, damnit! J-Just let me out of here. Oh god, Gooch, Shawn, Micah, I am so sorry."

"We accept your apology," Gooch suddenly said, and the three of them smiled as Kelly dove into their arms. Gooch couldn't help but be slightly worried; Kelly had lost a lot of wieght. "Jeesh, Kell, we were only gone a little while; how'd you lose so much weight?"

"Time in the game works differently," Kelly whispered. "A day in the real world is an entire month here."

"How long have you been here?" Shawn asked, worried.

"I've been here for three months."

"Wow, okay, Kelly, let's get out of here," Gooch told him, deciding not to push the issue. Then, with a flash of light, they were sitting in Gooch's room, listening to his brothers downstairs. The copies of Z town were destroyed, but all was not over.

* * *

Months went by, but nothing was ever the same after Z Town. Micah and Shawn still came over to see Gooch and Kelly, but all four of them were jumpy and for weeks, didn't even go outside. Micah constantly carried a small, legal weapon with her, such as a nerf gun or a chain on her belt. Shawn wouldn't leave Micah's side now if the world depended on it, and he didn't trust anybody outside of their quartet. Gooch was firm and tough, and if someone, whether it be bullies or his parents, tried to hit him, he fought back. Yet, Kelly was the most different.

He didn't eat. He didn't sleep, and when he did, he had horrible nightmares. As spring became summer, he continued to wear long sleeves and jeans, although he wouldn't tell anybody why. Finally, Gooch had had enough.

The four teens were at Gooch's house, talking and doing homework together, seeing as they didn't play video games anymore. Kelly sat a little bit off to the side, doodling in his spiral notebook as the others talked and laughed. That was until Gooch saw Kelly's sleeve roll up, revealing an array of cuts.

Before Kelly could hide the self injuries, Gooch yanked his friend's arm towards him and saw so many slices, bruises, and burns that it made him sick.

"Oh, Kell... why?" Gooch whispered.

"It's nothing, Gooch," Kelly told him, quickly, wrenching away his arm and scrambling to return the sleeve to its original position.

"That is not nothing, Kelly! What the hell happened in Z town that caused you to do that?" Shawn shouted and looked down guiltily as Kelly flinched.

"Do... Do you promise that you won't leave me when I tell you?" Kelly stammered.

"Kelly, no matter what you do, we'll always be here for you," Micah assured him, placing a comforting hand on his arm.

"O-okay. When I was in Z Town, these guys showed up and they weren't zombies. I thought someone else had been trapped in the game, but they told me that they were the leaders of Z Town. They were able to control the game. I-I asked them how to get out, but they just said there is no way out." Kelly began to sob. "He said that without them, my friends wouldn't have survived, and since they'd helped me, I-I had to help them. Then, th-they pinned me to the ground and started ripping my clothes off. Then, they... then, they..."

"Shh, it's okay, Kelly, it's not your fault. None of it was your fault." The gang held him in their arms as he cried.

"B-But, it was! If I was stronger, I could've saved you guys on my own. I-If I wasn't such a d-dirty whore, they wouldn't have chosen me to have sex with!"

"Look at me, Kelly. " The red head stared at Gooch. "What they did was in no way your fault. I used to blame myself for my dad hitting me, but guess what? He was a bitter addict that didn't give a damn about anybody but himself, and I was just an innocent victim. It took me a while, but I realized that it wasn't my fault and with time, my scars began to heal, physically and emotionally. We're here for you, Kelly, and we're going to help you, okay?"

And with that, Kelly cried. He had friends to help him through this. It wasn't going to be easy, but eventually, he'd be okay again. He could feel it in his frail bones and scarred heart.

* * *

 _Like I said, very dark, but what'd you think? Review!_


	4. Fear Never Knocks

_Very short, but still pretty good._

 _This is Fear Never Knocks!_

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

 _ **Warnings: language, schizophrenia, suicidal thoughts**_

* * *

"They don't love you. They hate you. You're a coward and they know it," the cold voice for Fear whispered in Jenny's ear. "Go on, kill yourself and it's all over."

"No." Jenny turned to look at Fear, his gray face haunting her every second of the day. "I won't listen to you."

"You should; I'm the only one that you can trust. Your grandpa is always there... for Jackson, but never for you. He has a night terror, Grandpa's right there, but when you have a nightmare, he's no where to be found."

"Leave me alone!" Jenny screamed, clamping her hands over her ears.

"Jenny, what's wrong?"

"No, go away! I won't listen!"

"Jenny." Hands shaking her as she screamed and withered in the grip.

"NO! No! You're not real! You're gone!"

"Jennifer!"

"Jen-bear?" Jenny's crying ceased. Her grandpa was the only one that called her Jen-bear.

"G-Grandpa?" She wimpered, leaping into his arms.

"Come on, Jenny, let's go talk in my office." The man led his granddaughter downstairs into the office and sat her down in an arm chair. "Now, Jenny, who were you screaming at?"

"Him," She whispered, scanning the room for that gray face.

"Don't worry, Jenny, He's not in here."

"He's everywhere, Grandpa. He never leaves."

"Who never leaves?"

"Fear." Her grandfather jurked in suprise. He'd thought that they were over that.

"And Jenny, what does Fear do when he's here?"

"He talks to me, tells me to give up, that I'm a coward. Then, he shows up and makes sure that I'm the only one that can see him, so that it makes me think I'm crazy. But, I'M NOT!" The dark haired girl began to pace. "He won't leave me alone!"

"Jenny, do you think he's real?"

"I don't know. Logically, I know that he's gone, but he seems so real!"

"Shut up, bitch!" A voice hissed in her ear and she froze. "If you talk anymore, you're dead! He isn't worried about you. He's just worried about the neighbor's gossiping about his crazy granddaughter."

"No!" Jenny began to use her fists to pound on her ears, desperately trying to shut him up. There, he was standing by the doors, laughing her. "No!" She backed up and covered her ears with her hands.

"Jenny, Jenny, please, it's okay."

Her grandfather recognized her symptoms as those of schizophrenia and prescribed her a medication. The voices stopped, the visions stopped, and Jenny's life went back to normal. For the most part. She was recovering everyday, but she would never be entirely okay. But, she was _better_. And that was all that mattered.

* * *

 _What'd you think? I hope I portrayed schizophrenia well, seeing as I don't have it, nor do I know anyone who does._


	5. Dream Catcher

_I have combined three different scenarios into one chapter, so part 1, 2, and 3 are all different scenarios for the end of dream Catcher._

 _Also, this was supposed to be posted earlier, but school started last week (RIP to my youth, am I right?) and it slipped my mind. Then, last night, I had a Biology project that took me five hours, on top of my other homework. The teachers are out to get me, I swear..._

 _Anyway, I'm here now._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

 ** _WARNINGS: MENTIONS OF SUICIDE AND MENTAL ILLNESS (NOT GRAPHIC), CHARACTER DEATH_**

* * *

 **PART 1**

Amelia and Lisa came to, slowly, blinking the sleep from their eyes as they blearily yawned.

Both were soaked in sweat, and their faces were stained with dry tears; fear lingered in their faces. Their hands trembled against each other's shoulders; their hearts beat at the speed of light, making their chests ache.

But the worst part was this strange feeling... like they were forgetting something. Still, the friends were too caught up in their fear to remember what it was.

"Lisa," Amelia muttered, tired and confused. "You okay?"

Lisa nodded, shakily, before the memory of the night terror crashed over her.

"Meg!" She screamed in realization.

"What?" The councilor mumbled, sitting up. "Girls, what is-"

They didn't stick around to hear her finish her statement.

Amelia and Lisa bolted to their feet, scrambling to the door and sprinting across the camp like rabid dogs were at their heels.

The Mess Hall wasn't far, but it felt like ten miles from the cabin. They could hear panicked screams echoing from inside. Meg's screams...

Lisa practically kicked down the door as they burst inside, skidding across the wooden floors to the small nook where Meg was slumbering.

"Meg!" Amelia cried.

Meg was lying on the floor, thrashing in her sleeping bag and crying loudly. Shrieks occassionally escaped her mouth, and tear drops down her cheeks. The wooden floor had turned dark brown where her sweat had soaked the ground.

"Meg!" Lisa shouted, shaking her shoulders. "MEG!"

"MEGAN CARRIE LEWIS, WAKE UP!" Amelia bellowed, sounding so much like a mother trying to wake her teenage daughter on a Monday morning. On a school morning, period.

Still, nothing occurred.

Lisa grabbed a bucket and raced to a sink to fill it with water before lugging it back.

Together, Amelia and Lisa splashed water all over Meg.

Nothing.

Meg's screams halted. Her tears stopped flowing. She looked dead...

"Anne!" Amelia sobbed as she weakly shook her shoulders. (Nickname for Meg that was used before the nickname Meg was created. Get it... Meg-ANNE? Yeah...)

For several moments, Lisa and Amelia simply cried. Meg was a jerk, but they'd never wanted her dead.

"Lia," a weak voice whispered. (Nickname for Amelia)

Meg coughed and stared at them, particularly at Amelia.

"And Lisa," she added, turning to the new camper.

Lisa nodded. "You okay, Meg?"

Meg was silent for at least a dozen seconds before she murmured, "I wanna go home."

She sounded so young. For such an independent thirteen year old girl, she looked like a frightened small child; it was a dagger in the heart to see her like that, even for her enemies.

"What is going on?" A sudden voice demanded from behind them.

Meg jumped and cried out, tears filling her eyes; Amelia and Lisa spun around, reaching for the closest objects that could qualify as weapons (a bucket and a flashlight).

But it was just the councilor, looking rather worried.

"We wanna go home," Lisa said, firmly.

"Lisa-"

"Either call our parents or we're walking!" Amelia growled, uncharacteristically rageful.

The councilor's eyes widened. "Okay, okay... just tell me what's wrong."

"That girl..." Meg croaked. "It wasn't just a legend, was it?"

The councilor blinked. "Is this about that scary story? Girls, it's not real-"

"Meg is in tears!" Amelia yelled, getting right in the councilor's face until they were nose to nose. "Lisa and I have barely slept in two days! It's very real to us, and it could be to one of the other campers or maybe even the councilors, next summer! Or the summer after that! It might even be you!"

The councilor paled, considerably. They could tell she still didn't believe them, but seeing quiet, friendly Amelia like this had thrown her for loop.

"I'll send you home," she finally decided. "Not because I believe this ridiculous story, but because Meg and the two of you are obviously distressed."

She left without another word.

"We're safe now, Meg," Lisa sighed, turning to the girl.

Meg was rocking back and forth, taking shaky and uneven breaths.

"Never safe," she murmured. "Never safe."

To this day, she hasn't told them what she meant.

...

Meg was never the same after that. She'd go days without sleeping; she started hallucinating; she had awful night terrors. She was placed in a mental hospital the month after they returned from camp.

She developed PTSD and Paranoid Schizophrenia, but the doctors and therapists refused to believe the tale about the Dream Catcher. Therefore, they have no idea what caused the conditions.

Amelia and Lisa suffered from insomnia, and even a hand full of flashbacks, but their mental state didn't compare to Meg's.

And whenever they visit her, they allow the awful thought- the one that fills them with guilt but is all too true- to slip into their minds:

Maybe Meg would've been better off dead...

* * *

 **PART 2 (requested by and dedicated to SpencerandHanna)**

Amelia and Lisa came to, slowly, blinking the sleep from their eyes as they blearily yawned.

Both were soaked in sweat, and their faces were stained with dry tears; fear lingered in their faces. Their hands trembled against each other's shoulders; their hearts beat at the speed of light, making their chests ache.

But the worst part was this strange feeling... like they were forgetting something. Still, the friends were too caught up in their fear to remember what it was.

"Lisa," Amelia muttered, tired and confused. "You okay?"

Lisa nodded, shakily, before the memory of the night terror crashed over her.

"Meg!" She screamed in realization.

"What?" The councilor mumbled, sitting up. "Girls, what is-"

They didn't stick around to hear her finish her statement.

Amelia and Lisa bolted to their feet, scrambling to the door and sprinting across the camp like rabid dogs were at their heels.

The Mess Hall wasn't far, but it felt like ten miles from the cabin. They could hear panicked screams echoing from inside. Meg's screams...

Lisa practically kicked down the door as they burst inside, skidding across the wooden floors to the small nook where Meg was slumbering.

"Meg!" Amelia cried.

Meg was lying on the floor, thrashing in her sleeping bag and crying loudly. Shrieks occassionally escaped her mouth, and tear drops down her cheeks. The wooden floor had turned dark brown where her sweat had soaked the ground.

"Meg!" Lisa shouted, shaking her shoulders. "MEG!"

"MEGAN CARRIE LEWIS, WAKE UP!" Amelia bellowed, sounding so much like a mother trying to wake her teenage daughter on a Monday morning. On a school morning, period.

Still, nothing occurred.

Lisa grabbed a bucket and raced to a sink to fill it with water before lugging it back.

Together, Amelia and Lisa splashed water all over Meg.

Nothing.

Meg's screams halted. Her tears stopped flowing. She looked dead...

Amelia panicked and slapped the teenage girl so hard, it startled back her back into consciousness.

For several moments, Meg breathed heavily, staring around her at the shelves and the walls until her eyes finally rested on Lisa.

She bolted up and practically tackled Lisa in a hug.

"Thank you," she mumbled into Lisa's shoulder. "Thank you."

Lisa didn't hesitate to hug her back.

Amelia gazed at the two, shock, anger, and envy glowing in her eyes.

She didn't want to admit it, but a tiny piece of her was thinking: _Lisa's my friend, not hers. Meg's a jerk. Simple as that._

She'd never admit it, but she sounded so much like Meg at the beginning of camp, it was eerie.

"What is going on?" A sudden voice demanded from behind them.

All three girls leaped a foot into the air.

But it was just the councilor, looking rather worried.

"We wanna go home," Amelia said, firmly.

"Amelia-"

"Either call our parents or we're walking!" Amelia growled, her hands trembling at the mere thought of having to spend one more night here with that creature waiting for her. Ready to attack as soon as she drifted off to sleep...

The councilor's eyes widened. "Okay, okay... just tell me what's wrong."

"That girl..." Meg mumbled, her barely audible. "It wasn't just a legend, was it?"

The councilor blinked. "Is this about that scary story? Girls, it's not real-"

"Meg is in tears!" Lisa yelled, her eyes gleaming with terror and rage. "Amelia and I have barely slept in two days! You don't know what it's like to fear a creature that could kill you as soon as you fell asleep and have no one believe you until it's too late. You can believe me or not; you can call me crazy, but I pray to God that you never have to know what that's like!"

The councilor paled, considerably. They could tell she still didn't believe them, but seeing Lisa, the new camper that rarely spoke to anyone other than Amelia, like this had shocked her to no end.

"I'll send you home," she finally decided. "Not because I believe this ridiculous story, but because Meg and the two of you are obviously distressed."

She left without another word.

Meg and Lisa embraced, and Amelia glared at the back of Lisa's head and Meg's face buried in Lisa's shoulder.

...

Later that morning, the trio waited on a bench with their bags, watching the road intently for their parents' cars.

"Lisa, can I talk to you?" Amelia asked.

Lisa shrugged. "Sure."

She stood and followed Amelia over to the corner, where Meg wouldn't hear their conversation.

"I don't want you to be friends with Meg anymore," Amelia blurted.

Lisa was caught off guard. "Why?"

"She's been a jerk all summer! How can you just forgive her like that?" Amelia demanded.

"My parents raised me to give people a second chance," Lisa responded, getting angry.

"If you want to be friends with Meg, then, I'm not going to be friends with you!" Amelia exploded.

Lisa smiled, politely. "Goodbye."

She walked away, not looking back once.

Lisa's parents couldn't pick her up, and the original plan was for her to ride with Amelia. Now, though, Meg's parents allowed Lisa to ride with them instead.

Amelia didn't talk the entire way home.

...

Meg and Lisa remained best friends until their dying days; they never spoke to Amelia again. As they lay on their death beds, they assumed Amelia was still the miserable girl she'd been all those years ago at camp, maybe even more so. They assumed she was still alive.

They never knew that Amelia committed suicide two summers after the friendship broke off.

* * *

 **PART 3**

Amelia and Lisa came to, slowly, blinking the sleep from their eyes as they blearily yawned.

Both were soaked in sweat, and their faces were stained with dry tears; fear lingered in their faces. Their hands trembled against each other's shoulders; their hearts beat at the speed of light, making their chests ache.

But the worst part was this strange feeling... like they were forgetting something. Still, the friends were too caught up in their fear to remember what it was.

"Lisa," Amelia muttered, tired and confused. "You okay?"

Lisa nodded, shakily, before the memory of the night terror crashed over her.

"Meg!" She screamed in realization.

"What?" The councilor mumbled, sitting up. "Girls, what is-"

They didn't stick around to hear her finish her statement.

Amelia and Lisa bolted to their feet, scrambling to the door and sprinting across the camp like rabid dogs were at their heels.

The Mess Hall wasn't far, but it felt like ten miles from the cabin. They could hear panicked screams echoing from inside. Meg's screams...

Lisa practically kicked down the door as they burst inside, skidding across the wooden floors to the small nook where Meg was slumbering.

It had gone silent until...

Amelia's scream woke the entire camp.

The councilor came racing inside, and she froze, her eyes wide and horrified.

A terrified expression was planted across Meg's face; her eyes were wide and glassy and empty. Her skin was the color of snow, and she wasn't moving at all. Her chest didn't rise and fall; it was perfectly still.

It took them two hours to pry the traumatized Amelia and Lisa away from Meg's body.

It took them four to get everyone on the buses and whisked out of camp.

Except for two girls...

Amelia and Lisa stood at the mouth of the cave, their flashlights and knives in hand. Lisa had stolen a gun from a security guard.

They ventured into the cave opening.

Deeper and deeper, they traveled, shining beams of light upon the cave floor, and when they were several miles into the cave, they found It.

Spider webs everywhere, encircling their arms and legs. Amelia sliced through them with her knife to avoid getting stuck.

A shadow rippled in the dark, and the gun went off in Lisa's hand.

The Dream Catcher fell to the ground, a bullet lodged in its forehead.

Its mouth was wide open, and Amelia stabbed its chest and legs and face, destroying the body. It could never hurt anyone ever again...

All of a sudden, whisps of silvery light bellowed out of the mangled remains of its mouth.

Six children surrounded the monster.

One was a boy with dark brown hair, and he was holding hands with another boy that was almost identical to him, although a few years younger. They must've been brothers.

The next was another boy with blonde curls and blue eyes and a contagious smiled plastered across his face. A relieved smile.

The fourth was a small girl that couldn't have been more than ten; she grinned, toothily, at them, her green eyes shining with regained innocence.

The fifth was a girl with long dirty blonde hair, and she had brown eyes; she was smiling, too, in a thankful way.

And the sixth...

The sixth was Meg.

The souls the Dream Catcher had stolen.

"Thank you," they whispered in an almost creepy but still heart felt unison.

And they vanished.

As Amelia and Lisa stared at the remains of the monster that had haunted their nightmares and the nightmares of many others they realized something. About the ghosts, about themselves, about everyone that had ever attended and would ever attend this camp...

They were free. Truly free.

* * *

 _What'd you think? I know a lot of you wanted to see Dream Catcher, so did I make you guys proud?_

 _A special thanks to SpencerandHanna for reminding me that I agreed to do this chapter and for not letting me forget (like I am notorious for doing when it comes to fanfics). Thank you so much for the motivation!_


	6. Nightmare Inn

_I've returned with another chapter. This was suggested by Godzilla183._

 _EPISODE: NIGHTMARE INN_

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

 **Summary: What happened to Jillian after the episode? What about her father?**

* * *

She had to find him.

Leaves crunches under Jillian's sneakers as she trekked through the woods behind Knight Time Inn. The silver necklace around her neck glittered and glinted in the light of the half moon.

Trees pressed in on her on all sides, and the air was silent. There was no howling of wolves; no footsteps other than her own; even the wind seemed to have gone silent.

Jillian maneuvered around a tree and continued walking along the road. She peaked over the edge and stared down into the blue water far below, supposedly her father's final resting place.

 ***FLASHBACK***

Jillian laughed as spaghetti dangled from her mouth, making a mess, and her mother-sitting across from her at the table- joined in.

It was a normal dinner. The only difference was that Dad was not with them. He was currently visiting a nearby hotel to take a look at it and decide how much work would need to be done. He'd left the previous afternoon and had not returned, but Jillian and her mother weren't worried. Mom said he probably 'fell down one of his rabbit holes again,' meaning he most likely had gotten so caught up in the project, he'd lost track of time.

A knock sounded at the door, and Jillian wiped her mouth with a napkin as her mother rose to answer it.

Jillian followed her mom into the hallway, and when her mother opened the door, two police officers stared inside. One even caught Jillian's eye, and the pity in his expression multiplied by three.

"Officers," her mother said. "What brings you here?"

The older one sighed. "We regret to inform you that… your husband was in an accident."

Jillian's heart skipped a beat.

"His car was found in a lake. We think he drove off the road."

Jillian blinked. "W-Where is he? I want to see him."

The officer pursed his lips. "We didn't find his body."

 ***FLASHBACK OVER***

 _We didn't find his body_. That could mean her father was still alive.

"Dad!" Jillian called. "It's me, Jillian! I know you're here."

Her voice echoed in the woods, and there was no response.

A rustle of leaves caused Jillian to whip around, her flashlight casting a shallow beam of yellow light, just in time to see a person dash past.

"Dad!"

Jillian followed the person, despite them being much faster than her, until she arrived at a cave.

The cave opening was small, but if she laid on her back, she could slide directly inside. It was mostly beneath ground; the ceiling of the cave was at calf level, and the floor was a few feet down. Jillian couldn't see well in the dark, so she _hoped_ it was only a few feet.

Jillian slid inside, the leaves crackling under her back, and the mud squishing beneath her weight.

Jillian's feet hit the floor, and she reached skyward. Her fingers could just wrap around the edge of the cave opening.

Jillian turned, shining her flashlight in the dark cave.

"Dad!" she called.

Jillian ventured further into the cave, her feet whispering against the stone floor.

Jillian froze.

A corner was a few feet away, and around the corner, she could see orange light dancing across the walls, casting shadows upon the rocks. Almost like… a fire.

Jillian took another few steps, and in the firelight, she saw the shadow of a distinct human form dancing upon the wall.

Jillian turned the corner, and her flashlight clattered to the rocks.

The man stood up from where he was sitting on a log, shocked by her sudden appearance.

His clothes were ripped and torn and bloody, and his hair was much more unruly than she remembered, but she would recognize those eyes anywhere.

"Daddy," she murmured.

"Jill," he whispered.

Her father swept her into his arms and cradled her against his chest.

"I missed you so much," he told her.

"I did, too," Jillian agreed. "Why don't you come home?"

"Jill, I'm a werewolf. I have to keep you and your mother safe."

"I know, but we can find a way. You can come here every full moon, and the rest of the time, you stay with us."

"Jill, even as a human, I have werewolf tendencies. I have a temper, brutal strength, and heightened senses. I wouldn't make it in the outside world. These woods have to be my home."

Jillian blinked away her tears. "Will I ever see you again?"

"Jill, you can come to my cave anytime. Just… not on a full moon."

Jillian smiled and nodded, tears trickling down her cheeks.

"I love you," she murmured.

"I love you, too," her father agreed, wiping the tears away with his thumb. "Whenever you come here, keep that necklace on, okay?"

Jillian nodded. "I promise."

"Good. Even as a werewolf, I will always be here to love and protect you, Jill."

Her father kissed her on the forehead, and Jillian found herself once again melting into his arms.

"I promise," he finished.

* * *

 _Werewolves are only werewolves on a full moon, so Jillian came when the moon was only half full._

 _What her father means by he won't make it in the outside world, imagine getting uprooted and placed in another country that you've never visited before. Would you do well there? You may be able to adapt, but werewolves are creatures and probably wouldn't do well in adapt old filled with other humans, like a city, Sue to their habits and instincts._

 _Well, there's that. Hope you liked it. Bye!_


	7. Lights Out

_This is a continuation of Lights Out. It uses the characters at the end of the episode and what happens to them when they try to prove that they can make a better ghost show than Teddy, his sister, and their friend did._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

* * *

"That is so lame," Lucas Marks said with a roll of his eyes as the tape came to an end.

"We could make one way better than that," Brandon Terrance agreed.

"Why don't we?" Lilly Hamilton asked, standing up from the couch.

"What do you suggest?" Emily Sare questioned.

"What about that old hospital downtown?" Lucas suggested. "That huge one with, like, five hundred rooms?"

"Nice," Brandon agreed. "I'll get the camera."

"Emily, get tons of flashlights," Lucas said. "Lilly, go get the tape recorder."

This was going to be _epic_.

* * *

"This place is kind of creepy," Lilly muttered.

The hospital stretched toward the sky with at least five floors, although it was hard to tell in the dark of night. Vines and other plants had grown over the walls, dangling from window sills and stretching their fingers over the bricks. The windows were dusty, some broken, and the lock on the door was cracked. It opened with an audible squeak.

"Don't tell me you're getting cold feet already," Lucas scowled. "Come on, Lilly, don't be a baby."

Lilly huffed before following her friends inside.

"So what happened here anyway?" Emily questioned, her voice loud in the silent, musty air of the hospital.

"Well, the hospital got shut down back in the seventies," Brandon told her. "Patients were scattered to hospitals all across the country, but legend has it, three patients were left behind."

"Why didn't they leave?" Lilly demanded.

"One was paralyzed; another was too sick to move; and the third was a five year old. No one knows for sure why she didn't leave, but the town assumes she was waiting for her mother. No one ever found it what happened to the girl's mother, and no one knew the patients were here until they had all starved to death," Brandon said. At their quizzical glances, he shrugged. "What? You think I was going to come on a ghost hunt and _not_ do my research?"

His friends shrugged their shoulders, as though to say good point.

The friends walked through the decayed hallways, avoiding splintered pieces of furniture and old medical tools strewn across the floor. Patches of the tile were dark and disgusting with water damage and mold. The rooms were wrecks of moldy blankets and mattresses that were practically all springs now.

"Okay, guys, we've had our fun. Let's go," Lilly hissed.

"Don't be a baby, Lilly. This place isn't really haunted," Lucas said.

"Yeah, it's just a scary story cops tell kids to keep them away from here," Emily agreed.

The others continued walking, but Lilly paused and stood beside the door to a hospital room.

There was a stuffed bear sitting on the bed, a pink bow wrapped around its neck.

A child's room.

 _"Mommy."_

Lilly whipped around, searching the room for any sign of life or death, but the whisper had been lost in the breeze fluttering through the broken window. It was probably her imagination.

Probably.

"Lilly, come on!" Brandon yelled, and Lilly rushed to catch up with her friends.

* * *

"Okay," Brandon said, tying floss to the spindles on the wheel of a wheelchair. "Emily, you're going to hide in the closet and pull this wheelchair."

Emily snatched up the loose end of the floss and ducked into a nearby closet.

"Why are we doing this?" Lilly asked, her eyes darting across the room.

"This is the room of the person who was too sick to move," Brandon replied. "She had brain cancer, and it was so bad, she was practically brain dead when they shut down the hospital. Really, she could only move her eyes and fingers. Standing, no chance They had to push her around in a wheelchair."

"Hey," Emily called from the closet. "Lucas, set up the camera, and then, you two can take the tape recorder and check out the room of the paralyzed man."

"I don't think-" Lilly began.

"Lilly, if you want to be a baby, just go home," Lucas snapped.

"Maybe I will," Lilly responded. "Unlike you three, I'm not _stupid_ enough to mock the dead."

Lilly stomped through the hospital in search of the exit.

 _"Mommy."_

Lilly stopped and turned to find herself standing in the doorway of the child's room she'd passed before.

 _"Mommy."_

Lilly went against her better judgement and stepped into the room, approaching the window. The window was completely broken; all the shards of glass were on the floor or the window sill. It was practically a small door; she didn't need the exit. She could crawl out the window.

"You can't leave. You need to save your friends."

Lilly whirled around. The repeating whisper of Mommy could've easily been her imagination, her nerves getting the best of her, but that statement had been loud and clear.

Lilly found herself staring at a five year old girl with curly red hair and freckles splattered across her cheek bones. Her watery eyes twinkled in the dim moonlight, and they almost looked purple if Lilly looked at them just right, but they were actually a dark blue. She wore a hospital gown that she was swimming in, and the stuffed bear was cradled in her hands, her arms wrapped around its midsection.

"What…" Lilly murmured, and she vaguely wondered why she wasn't screaming.

"They're angry," the girl said as though she hadn't spoken. "Mr. Carwell and Mrs. Goode."

Lilly blinked. "You're the little girl, the one who got left behind. That means…"

"They got left behind, too," the girl responded, "But they're angry. You need to save your friends."

"Why did you…"

"Signal you out?" the girl said, as though reading her mind. "You're not like the others. You can free me. I've been looking for my mommy and hiding from _them_ for so many years. I want to leave, but I can't do it alone."

Lilly paused. Trusting a ghost, not a good idea, but if she refused, she may anger the girl, and angering a ghost? A _worst_ idea.

She had a decision to make.

* * *

The wheelchair squealed as it moved an inch or two across the tile.

"Emily, stop pulling it. I'm not ready," Lucas snapped.

"I'm not pulling it."

"Well, evidently, you are."

Emily popped out from the closet, dropping the floss just as the wheelchair wheeled another inch.

"What the…" Brandon muttered. "Guys, maybe Lilly was right. We should-"

Emily screamed, and they followed her gaze to the wheelchair to see a middle aged women with stringy brown hair and gray eyes glaring at them.

Brandon cried out, and Lucas and Lilly whipped to face another chair wheeling into the room- a motorized wheelchair- and the man in it growled.

The three of them screamed, wanting to run, but the man was blocking the door.

"Let them go!" Lilly yelled as she darted into the room, kicking the man's motorized wheel chair and making him slump forward. "Come on!"

The trio darted past the man and the woman and out the door.

"Where's the exit?" Brandon asked.

"I don't know, but there's another way out!" Lilly yelled. "Hurry up!"

Lilly lead them to the girl's room, and Brandon, Emily, and Lucas froze when they caught side of the ghost girl with her teddy bear.

"Lilly," Brandon muttered.

"Don't worry about her. Go out the window!"

Brandon, Emily, and Lucas didn't need to be told twice. They leaped out the window without a second thought and started running, thinking Lilly was right behind them. Lilly picked up the girl and dropped her out the window. The girl smiled in thanks and vanished, finally free from the prison she'd been trapped in for almost forty years.

Hands grabbed Lilly by the back of her coat, and Lilly screamed as she looked into the faces of the man and the woman. The glass shards floated off the floor and pieced together until the window was intact again.

The man and woman smiled, insanely, before wheeling out of the door and the door slammed shut behind them.

Lilly tried breaking the window, opening it. She tried kicking down the door, picking the lock. Nothing worked.

There was no escape, and now she was doomed to take the ghost girl's place.

To this day, if you venture close to the hospital, you can still hear the sorrowful wails of Lilly Hamilton, crying out for help and screaming for her friends, who had yet to return.

* * *

 _How was it? This was my first time posting an actual ghost story, so I'd like to know how I did._

 _Thanks for reading!_


	8. The Black Mask

_The Black Mask was suggested by speedermeen._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

* * *

Julie couldn't help it. The following day, she returned to the house.

There was something about the mask that almost... attracted her, like a magnet pulling metal towards it. You could fight it, but you couldn't fight the pull forever.

Julie tip toed into the house, the floorboards creaking underfoot. The basement door loomed ahead of her, filling her with a sense of dread, as well as a certain thrill.

Her hand whispered against the doorknob before her fingers wrapped around the rusty bronze sphere and twisted it. The door wailed as it opened, and she flinched.

She knew she should turn back. She knew she shouldn't be here. She knew she should stay away from that mask.

But she couldn't.

Julie swallowed as she entered the basement. Each step she descended seemed to take her an hour as her mind and body argued. Her body wanted to forge on, wanted to give in to the pull of the mask, but her mind wanted to resist, to turn around, run, and never look back.

But Julie knew she would never truly be able to move on until she did this one last thing.

Julie's shoes thumped against the floor at the bottom of the stairs case, and she gazed around, looking from the fallen beam to the old timey scenery her and Bill had crafted. Her eyes finally landed on the mask.

Julie was descending into a panic attack, but no matter how much anxiety the mask caused her, she couldn't stop herself from reaching towards it.

Julie's fingers closed around the smooth edge of the mask, and she began breathing sharply as she started to put it on, more in a trance than anything else.

"Julie, what are you doing?" A voice demanded, and the girl whipped around to see Bill and Robbie standing at the bottom of the staircase.

"How did you find me?" She demanded.

"We followed you," Robbie told her. "You've been acting weird ever since that mask thing. We had to make sure you were okay."

Julie nodded. "I'm fine."

"Julie, you were about to put that thing on!" Bill pointed out. "Do you even remember what happened last time we did that?"

Julie felt tears well up in her eyes. "I need to do this," she murmured. "I'll never be able to move on if I don't."

"Julie, it's too risky. Someone nearly died last time!" Robbie snapped. "Put it down!"

"I have to do this," she sobbed. "I'm sorry!"

"No!" Bill cried, but Julie had already placed the mask upon her face.

She frowned. She didn't see anything but blackness and... was that wood?

She pulled the mask away. "It's all black," she said. "There's wood... nothing else."

"You've looked at it. Let's go," Robbie demanded.

Robbie and Bill stormed up the stairs, and Julie gazed at the mask one last time before storing it in a cabinet and wrapping a nearby chain around the handles that were used to pull it open. She located a combination lock and snapped it over the chain, locking the cabinet shut.

Now she would never be able to pick up the mask again, and there would be no more unlucky kids that would find it.

Julie heard the front door open upstairs, and she knew the boys were stepping outside onto the porch.

"Come on, Julie!" Bill called.

Julie was about to shout back that she was coming, but she was interrupted by a creak. The house suddenly began shaking around her, trembling like there was an earth quake. The most shaking existed in the ceiling, and was it Julie's imagination or was the ceiling sinking down towards her, like it was bearing too heavy a weight?

"JULIE!" Robbie screamed, but there was no time for Julie to run for the stairs.

The house groaned, and Julie's eyes widened at the thunderous boom of the roof collapsing. A scream was torn from her throat, only to be abruptly silenced by a beam smacking her in the head, stunning her but not killing her.

Something heavy pressed down on her chest, and it was becoming hard to breath. She inhaled dust and kicked up dirt, and she saw nothing but darkness and a few glimpses of wood in a sliver of light crawling through the smallest opening.

"Julie!"

She heard someone call her name in the distance, but any help would come too late.

She closed her eyes and slowly slipped into the sea of black known as unconsciousness.

Darkness clouded her vision, and there would be no light for a very long time.

* * *

Robbie sniffled, and Bill was full out sobbing, not even attempting to stop his tears anymore.

Robbie stared down at the blank face of Julie, his hand cradling her's and longing for her to squeeze his hand.

They'd found Julie trapped under the rubble of the collapsed house (luckily, Bill and Robbie had been outside the front door and had managed to dive off the pooch and escape the worst of it. Robbie had a concussion, and Bill suffered a dislocated shoulder, but that was where their injuries ended). She'd been unconscious but alive, and they'd rushed her to the hospital.

The doctors did everything they could, but Julie was pronounced comatose, and no one knew if or when she would wake up.

Robbie didn't know where the mask was, but he hoped it'd been destroyed. It'd caused the three of them enough pain; he hoped some other unlucky kids wouldn't go investigating around the fallen house and accidentally find the mask.

Robbie stared at Julie and prayed for her to wake up.

Her eyes didn't open. Nothing changed.

Maybe she wasn't waking up now, but she would someday. Somehow Robbie knew she'd make it through this alive; she would wake up. If not today, maybe a few months or even year not,s down the road, but she would wake up.

And Bill and Robbie would be right by her side when she did.

* * *

 _I couldn't decide whether to kill Julie or not, so I decided to leave it open ended._

 _Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the chapter._


	9. Really You

_Not the best chapter, but I still think it's good. Make sure to tell me what you think._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing._**

* * *

Almost three months had passed since Lilly D had been hit by the bus, and their family had done their best to forget it, but the memory of the emotionally scarring event still showed in the details.

For example, Lilly was more timid, less of a brat. She did chores without complaint; she was much quieter than usual. Their parents wanted to take her to a psychiatrist, but that wouldn't do much good if they couldn't explain the root of Lilly's problems without getting locked in a mental hospital themselves.

Brandon held Lilly much closer than before. Sometimes she'd wake up to find him sleeping on her floor; he'd walk her to her classes sometimes, and most sisters would find this annoying (and Lilly would have been irritated three months ago), but after what happened with Lilly D, Brandon's actions were comforting.

Their parents were much more loving towards Lilly, especially their mother. Almost losing her had kicked their mother into gear, and she realized that even if Lilly could be a brat, Lilly was still her daughter. She loved her, and not showing or telling Lilly she loved her... it lead to bad things.

Their father didn't spoil Lilly anymore, but he was always close at hand in case she needed him. He didn't entirely understand what happened with Lilly D, despite his family's best attempts to explain it to him, but he had a general idea of it, and he was more worried for Lilly than he wanted to admit.

Still, three months later, Lilly's fear- and the rest of her family's fear- that Lilly D might find a way to return had slowly began to fade.

Unfortunately, Lilly D was smart. When they were least expecting it, she struck.

Lilly's breathing was even and relaxed, oddly loud in the silent room, as she slept. She looked peaceful; typically, she had endless nightmares during the night, but occasionally, she was blessed with dreamless sleep.

Thunder boomed outside, followed by a bright flash of lightning that lit up the whole room.

The waxy plastic face of Lilly D looked over Lilly, and Lilly muttered tiredly as the roar of the thunder jolted her out of her sleep.

Her eyes met Lilly D's.

A scream was torn from her throat as she sat bolt up right in her bed, shrieking as Lilly D raised a hammer above her head.

The door burst open, and Brandon didn't have time to be shocked by the return of Lilly D as he tackled the doll to the floor.

"Lilly!" He yelled, throwing the hammer away from the doll and struggling to restrain her. "Get Mom and Dad, and get me a rope!"

Lilly nodded, taking a shaky breath, before sprinting out of the room.

She returned moments later with a rope in hand and her terrified parents in tow. Brandon tied Lilly D up with her arms pinned to her sides by the ropes wrapped around her torso.

Brandon sighed, exhausted from battling the doll, who continued struggling against the ropes, roaring angrily.

"I need gasoline and a lighter," Brandon murmured to his father, quietly so that Lilly D wouldn't be able to hear. His father nodded, and they began dragging the kicking doll down the stairs.

The family loaded Lilly D up in their car, Lilly sitting on her mother's lap in the front seat, so that she wouldn't have to sit next to the object of her nightmares.

They drove to the nearest junk yard and found an old metal barrel, which they tossed the doll inside.

"You will never hurt my sister again," Brandon hissed before dousing the doll in gasoline.

His father showed no remorse or hesitancy as he tossed the lighter into the barrel and watched the doll go up in flames.

The parents and their son sighed, preparing to walk away, but Lilly didn't follow them.

"Lilly," Brandon murmured, placing a hand on her tense shoulder.

"I want to make sure she's destroyed," she whispered.

Brandon could understand that, so he stood beside Lilly, watching the horrible doll burn until it was nothing but ashes.

The family, their troubles dead and gone, turned around and headed for home, feeling totally safe for the first time since Lilly D first entered their home.

* * *

 _Thanks for reading! See you next time! Bye!_


End file.
